Message paging is an essential communication tool for the healthcare industry, particularly large medical facilities such as hospitals with multiple wings, buildings, and separate campuses. Message paging enables hospital staff to notify doctors and other personnel of emergencies, patient status, room availability, equipment failures, and other issues that may arise.
Another technology used by the healthcare industry is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for inventory and asset tracking. RFID tags are small electronic devices with an antenna that responds to queries from RFID transceivers. Every RFID tag has a unique identifier, and can contain other data related to the tag or to the item on which the tag is affixed. RFID tags are applied to assets and equipment such as beds, gurneys, carts, medical monitors, and computers for asset tracking. RFID tags are used with patient wrist bands for verifying identity and staff identification cards for granting access to restricted areas of the medical facility. Stationary RFID tag readers and transceivers can identify RFID tags in the vicinity of the stationary RFID tag reader, assisting hospital personnel in locating assets or people or for granting access to a restricted area. Portable RFID tag readers are used for taking inventory, or verifying a patient's identity before performing a procedure or administering medicines. Active, programmable RFID tags have a memory that can be repeatedly reprogrammed with new information. Programmable RFID tags are used, for example, with patient identification wrist bands to store and update medical information and prescribed medicine dosages.
Maintaining comprehensive cellular phone and pager coverage across a healthcare facility is essential. But the costs to support coverage by multiple telecommunication systems can be prohibitive. Programmable RFID tags are already in use, but are not presently available for message paging. Thus, a need exists for a message paging system using pre-existing RFID infrastructure.